Flash sales, blowouts and 50% off clearance are all music to your ears. Bold signs lure you to the messy, crowded shops where you can browse for all the trending styles. Flannels, distressed jeans and baggy sweatshirts pile up in carts, and the checkout lines are out the door. Your mind is so consumed by the bargains that you rarely consider what makes these prices so affordable. Cheap labor seems to be more of a political issue rather than an ethical one because many fail to picture the cruel, laborious conditions in the third world countries that produce the majority of goods.

Popular stores such as Forever 21, H&M, Old Navy and Macy’s are major culprits of this injustice. They import their goods from foreign countries that don’t have or disregard their minimum wage laws because it is the only way to satisfy those customers seeking for that $8.99 cardigan. Employing over 250 million children worldwide, this system continues to exploit the impoverished populations in these developing countries. Proponents of this system may argue that the system strives to alleviate poverty, but almost the entirety of sweatshop workers’ paychecks are spent on basic necessities such as food, water and shelter.

Considering these injustices, I took on the challenge of shopping while keeping this issue fresh on my mind. I visited the local thrift shop in search of a typical wardrobe, curious to see how many of the clothes were created under these cruel conditions. Out of eight items of clothing I wanted to buy, only one shirt was created in the United States. Out of eight items of clothing I wanted to buy, only one was produced in a relatively moral setting. Although the United States sets minimum wage laws that allow our workforces to be considered relatively well-off, sweatshops and their tiresome labor still exist here. The rest of the clothes came from developing countries: Vietnam, China, Mexico, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Guam. If United States workers produced all the textiles available here, the prices would skyrocket, making these sweatshops key to our comfort and free-spending. This creates a moral dilemma for the average consumer: morals or luxury?